LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                              Austin, Texas
                                     
                    FISCAL NOTE, 76th Regular Session
  
                              April 20, 1999
  
  
          TO:  Honorable Bob Turner, Chair, House Committee on Public
               Safety
  
        FROM:  John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
  
       IN RE:  HB2240  by Hupp (Relating to establishing a procedure for
               a person to renew the person's driver's license and the
               person's license to carry a concealed handgun at the
               same time.), As Introduced
  
**************************************************************************
*  Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for    *
*  HB2240, As Introduced:  negative impact of $(1,156,114) through       *
*  the biennium ending August 31, 2001.                                  *
*                                                                        *
*  The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal      *
*  basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of    *
*  the bill.                                                             *
**************************************************************************
  
General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:
  
          ****************************************************
          *  Fiscal Year  Probable Net Positive/(Negative)   *
          *               Impact to General Revenue Related  *
          *                             Funds                *
          *       2000                           $(925,025)  *
          *       2001                            (231,089)  *
          *       2002                            (231,089)  *
          *       2003                          (3,231,089)  *
          *       2004                          (3,231,089)  *
          ****************************************************
  
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
  
***************************************************************************
*Fiscal    Probable Savings/(Cost) from     Change in Number of State     *
* Year         General Revenue Fund           Employees from FY 1999      *
*                      0001                                               *
*  2000                        $(925,025)                             4.0 *
*  2001                         (231,089)                             4.0 *
*  2002                         (231,089)                             4.0 *
*  2003                       (3,231,089)                             4.0 *
*  2004                       (3,231,089)                             4.0 *
***************************************************************************
  
Technology Impact
  
It is estimated the Technology Impact for the bill would be $816,374 for
Fiscal Year 2000 and $129,466 for each year thereafter.
  
  
Fiscal Analysis
  
The bill would amend the Transportation Code and the Government Code to
require the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to establish a procedure
to allow a person to renew a driver s license and license to carry a
concealed handgun at the same time.  The bill would extend the validity
period of a concealed handgun license from 4 years to 6 years.  The bill
would allow an eligible person who holds a driver s license or a
commercial driver s license to voluntarily surrender that license before
the expiration date and acquire a new license that would expire on the
same date as the person s license to carry a concealed handgun.  The
bill requires DPS to develop a standard application form for the
voluntary surrender/reissuance procedure and would allow DPS to charge a
specified fee for that procedure.
  
  
Methodology
  
Passage of the bill would require DPS to make significant modifications
to computer applications supporting the Department's Distributed Driver
License System to provide for concealed handgun license renewal screens
and the capture and separation of digital images for production of both
types of licenses.  Additional modifications to that system would be
necessary to remove edits limiting the validity period of driver s
licenses and allow for a manual override to an expiration date to match
the expiration on the concealed handgun license.  It is estimated that
the Department's Information Management Services (IMS) would incur
contract programming costs of $668,600 and need two additional employees
to make the necessary changes.

The Department's License Issuance Bureau (LIB) would be required to
provide added technical support for changes in the driver s license
issuance application (i.e., design, development, testing, training,
etc.).  LIB would need two additional Administrative Technician IV s for
these responsibilities.

The bill could generate some revenue if a concealed handgun licensee
decided to voluntarily surrender an existing driver s license and pay the
prescribed fee for reissuance.

It is expected that  the bill would result in a loss of revenue
(potentially as much as one third of program funding) due to the
extension of the validity period of a concealed handgun license from 4
years to 6 years without an accompanying increase in the license fee.

Extending the validity period of a concealed handgun license from 4 to 6
years would also result in the Department experiencing a sharp drop-off
in concealed handgun license fees for fiscal years 2003, 2004, when
renewal fees for 4-year licenses would have been received (this revenue
would not be realized until fiscal years 2005, 2006).  In fiscal year
1998 the Department collected approximately $5,000,000 in handgun
license fees from individuals who either renewed or applied for an
original license.  If roughly the same number of persons applied
for/renewed a handgun license in FY2000 as in FY1998 and those
individuals were not required to renew a handgun license until fiscal
year 2005, revenue losses in fiscal year 2003 could be as much as $3
million.
  
  
Local Government Impact
  
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
  
  
Source Agencies:   405   Department of Public Safety
LBB Staff:         JK, MD